Brent tears it up Shakedown Street is just wild eyes of the world goes to amazing and wonderful places

I'm not one of the boomers who usually bite at the negative reviews, but Brent's organ is "cheesy"? The hell? His organ sounds better in this mix than it does in a lot of later tapes - he's pushing that Leslie just the right amount.

I was at this show, one of 17 I saw in 1979, by far the most shows I saw in one year (I saw 70 in total, between 73 & 95). Today is my first listen for this set, after hearing it live almost 34 years ago!! What a treat, two of my favorite GD songs are Eyes and Stella Blue, these two really shine, as does the whole set!! The first set rocked as well!! check out the LLRain - Deal.
1979 was a stellar year for the amount of shows the band did in the Northeast, the cancelled fall shows from Nov. 78 were held in January at MSG and Nassau, love the 1/10 Nassau, my first & only Dark Star. Riding the trains from CT down to MSG was always a great trip, so many heads on the trains !! Saw the UMass show in May, Billerica the night before. Saw all 3 MSG shows Sept 4,5,& 6. MSG had to be the best venue in the East to see the Dead, so many great ones over the years! Wound up the year with 6 shows from the Oct/ Nov tour, including all 3 at Nassau, which for me was always a great venue also (Go Islanders - 4 cups in a row!!) Thanks to the archive to have these come to life again & again!! peace love & donuts to y'all

Yea, it's how I am going to play Shakedown St.
Real Music. Real Life. Real!!!

This one is spectacular.Some of the cleanest tightest dead of there career.a must have show.

Stellar sound.The highlights for me are:
Shakedown
FOTD
Stella blue

.......as it's a perfect description of Jerry's blow-by-blow jam on Passenger as well as Eyes. As a drumnmer it's hard to explain in words exactly what JG's really doing but dcain certainly does. I'll add that Phil's dropping some serious bombs on Estimated and Shakedown. I'm not sure I can go 5 on this show but a SOLID 4 stars.

then u should really like the scarlet > fire from 11/1.
brent continues his opus in phunky keyboard tone

if you listen to one song on here make it SHAKEDOWN, by far my favorite version and one of the best ever, the recording is pretty dam good and the keyboard sound quality is a plus too. some really sick Brent improvisation here, i cant believe this second set never made it to a Dick's Picks

I was at this show.(all of them] The sound at New Haven was always strange. The floor there turned to a mush of dead head sweat. Great shows though.
I am looking for the New HAven Show of Bobbies band and JGB. It was a short tour to raise bail Any help please send a link

I've gotta say this is my favorite SHAKEDOWN and it's followed by a great passenger! Is it the best? It's a damned good one, yeah, in my mind it is the best. Shakedown just keeps on peaking! As far as Brent goes, he added so much life! Funky shit! I love rockin' out to fall 79!

I have to agree, this Shakedown is among the best ever and ditto Passenger. Brent is by now fully integrated into the band and has really given the band a much needed boost. As much as I love Keith his last year and a half with the Dead was one of gradual burnout. He really seemed to have lost his way and despite a few good shows here and there for whatever reason he was spent. So in walks Brent and the band are reborn. The only reason I gave this show a 4 star is because it's a partial show and both Good Lovin' and US Blues are cut, otherwise it's fantastic.

Strap yourselves in & hold on !
I declare this the "BEST Skakedown Street" & "Eyes" ever. In fact, this may be the "BEST Dead Set" ever. The Shakedown will take control of your feet & drive you into a stompin & dancin mode (warning- do not drive while listening to). I think it's got someting to do with Phil's dominant bass, especially in the climax. The "Eyes" shows off once again Jerry's sweet voice & is full of emotion, and ends in a very trippy finale.
If you like the Psychedelic Dead, this is the one. But this Set 2 may not be for the country lovers.
I checked out the other version too. Although it contains Set 1 which is not here, it also has this very annoying girl that won't stop talking who sat right by the taper. It's quite noticable.

I really love the sound of the Clavinet and Fender Rhodes (or is it Wurlitzer ?) electric piano that Brent uses !
This is a nice, funky direction that the Dead took after the turgidness of late 1971 to 1978 (sorry Keith and Donna fans).
This is a lovely, lovely recording with Shakedown Street, Eyes of the World and Friend of the Devil
all real gems.
Despite only being the second set, this really is a must have !

Although this recording lacks a first set, it's of high enough quality that I really don't care all that much. There doesn't seem to be much going on in the first set of this particular show anyways that couldn't be found elsewhere in abundance.
Anyways, on to the show. Great stuff for the most part. This being fall '79, everything is very jammed out, with Brent getting LOTS of room to showcase his talent. He's all over the place on this show, especially on Shakedown, where he get into all sorts of funky grooves. If you're a Brent fan, this show's for you. I wouldn't call this a five-star show per se, but it's definately a good show. Very consistant with the overall awesomeness I associate with this particular tour. If you like this, check out the two Cape Cod shows following it. They're both monsters.

By this stage in history, every 1979 show has
been reviewed someplace on the planet using
terms along these lines:
"An amazing show from a very so-so year..."

NOT!!! A monster year from front to start.......

I would call the toy piano more of a "Captain and Tennille" sound--I expect Brent to break out into Muscrat Love everytime I hear it. If Brent took the Dead in a new direction, it was Lite Rock (which he uses to ruin Freind of the Devil here). Still, there are some good shows in the Brent years. This one is only average (Brent sounds out-of-sync with the rest of the band on Eyes, for instance). For a better '79 Brent show, try 8/12/79, or 10/25.

I'm streaming this now, and the entire first set is missing. This is bad. I can't rate this a 4 or a 5 because of this.
Also, I really can't stand the new organ that Mydland uses. It sounds like a toy that I would buy my 18 month old son. BAD.
Sound quality is quite good so far.

Actually this boots up better nice and sober. You guys - drugs went out of style in the 80's so enought with all this substance pharmacopia reference. Great Show. FOTD garcia solo is goosechillls, shakedown is sickest of all.

I think this version of Shakedown St. will put to rest any un-certainy of Brent's place in the band at that time. After you hear this version you will be asking Keith and Donna who ? Don't get me wrong I love Keith but, what a new and bold direction the band took with Brent. This set is on fire and the entire band is in synch. If you don't have it don't delay get it now !

No way to describe it......simply.....uh.....undescribable. Download this show or rot in hell for the rest of your life listening to Bon Jovi's comeback tour circa 1995.....nonestop.......with Limp Bizkit as an opening act.
Oh yeah, and just like the review just below this one suggests, take some drugs before listening to this show. If no drugs available, drink a sustainable amount of alci-hole, that can do the trick just as well, but whatever happens, download this show!!!

Grabbed this based on the number of reviews others had given for what seemed like a pretty obscure show. The Compendium says that there's an AUD available, but no SBD and the reviewer in the book doesn't go into great detail, but I'm glad I listened to YOU GUYS rather than that joker, because this is a fantastic show!
All instruments are clear, graceful, and known in this mix; it almost sounds like an FM-SBD. Phil is upfront and kicking ass, and the whole band gives off amped, "coked-up" vibes (a good thing!) Apart from a drummer-stumble in "Shakedown," which Brent helps recover fromusing that '79 clavinet/synth sound, this is now definitely in my top five for 1979. Tight, extended, both spacy and sober in equal measure.
Thanks to the archive for filling my iPod with more Grateful Goddamn Dead than I know what to do with.

and listen to this set.

I will tell you that I was never a Brent fan and would never listen to anything post 78 at best, but Brent is so over the top in this set that I have become a believer and some. His effortless break down of the time signatures, especially in Estimated is a straight head twister. The sound quality is perfect. If you are looking for a show to turn people into dead fans, this is the alpha and the omega. If anyone has the other set please please please please put it up

Review as posted on September 13, 2005:
I thought Hunter S Thompson already wrote a review here but I guess not. He would have seen bats and roses flying around during the Est>Eyes transition, that's for sure. As your attorny, I strongly advise you to get this show. It melts in your brain, not in your mouth...and, like another reviewer before me, I'm not even close to being stoned. Inhale this though!
This is certainly a rival to Dick's Picks 5, one of my favorites. The Shakedown Street...everybody is ON for this one but check out Phil's bass line during the beginning beat...and a perfectly played set all the way through with no major slip-ups or pitfalls that sometime drop a great show into the realms of mediocrtiy. Not this show. A powerful Passenger pummels you into submission and Jerry ends the song with a growl sound from his gEtaR. Woah. Next, an incredible version of Friend Of The Devil will wrap you up in comfort. Listen for Brent's turn in the solo slot, a crowd pleaser. Billy bashes in his bass drum and they have a quick equipment repair before they get real serious. Now onto the main course: Est>Eyes>Jam>Drums>Space>Stella>Good Lovin' (cut before the end, unfreakin'fortunately)
A feast for those hungry for some high energy deadness. Oh no. Oh yes. The rasta-fied Estimated Prophet works into a frenzy as Bobby is knock knock knockin' on the Golden Door, then onto the mind-meld jam into a chuncky and boppy Eyes Of The World. This combo always has the potential to be hot and the set list delivers as promised. The boys lead you into uncharted waters, you better have a life preserver handy as they space out into drums. Micky and Bill are masterful drummers, as we all know, but sometimes you want to FF>> the drum section, don'tcha? Well, leave this one in 'cause it flows so well into the second dosage of space, all very rewarding. This is not the mindless dribble you get in later years. This is the shit.
Now you're ready for the tender and yet always beautifully odd Stella Blue...fans of this song will enjoy some of the best Garcia licks at the conclusion and then, BOOM!, like John Madden just came through your monitor, it's on to what sounds to be a well-done Good Lovin' but it gets cropped, dang it.
Doctor Thompson, rest in peace.
UPDATE September 17, 2005:
Show: Five Stars
This Source: Four Stars
Other Source (see below for link): Five Stars
I forgot that I grabbed a different (and better) source for this show back in July. Be sure to get the 2nd set from this source:
October 25th, 1979 New Haven, CT
The first set is Aud but the second set is an even better soundboard than the one on this page.

This is an excellent show. Tremendous energy and a very beautiful Stella Blue. This archive is a true gift, as are all of you who share these recordings. Thank you.

This is my first time since this site has been introduced I have ever bothered to write a review or even sign in as a member. I have downloaded, probably around 1500 shows and burned about 300-350 of those after careful, careful scrutinization. This 2nd Set of 10/25/79 is the sickest shit in GD History.....and I'm not even f*cked up while listening to it. No matter what "era" is your favorite, download this immediately or you are just simply cheating yourself. I am not going to get technical but both the sound quality and playing are absolute top-notch. "Hopperdave" is correct, both "Shakedown" and "Eyes" shine. Download this NOW and thank me later for making you!!! This is the only review I will ever leave on this site.
By the way, Archive, I could not even begin to thank you for all of this sick, sick music over the years. You are the shit!

The Shakedown is killer! Funky and jammed-out...
Similar to, but a notch below 12.09.79.....
Eyes is really fast and Jerry's a man possessed!!
You can almost smell the smoke coming off his guitar from the lightening fast licks zipping from his hands!!!!! And the Jam between Eyes and Drumz is absolutely other-worldly: fast, fully
jammed out and funkified in the most trippiest
of fashions!!!! AAA+++ show! AAA+++ sound! In the
past, the year of 1979 I overlooked for whatever
reason, but it I'm now finding some of the BEST
Dead I've ever heard!!! The fall of '79 seems to
be really energetic on the whole.... check it out !!!!! 11.01/02.79 12.09.79 and others!

FELL ASLEEP LAST NIGHT D/L SHAKEDOWN STREET. IM STILL ON DIAL UP TOOK AN HOUR FOR THIS ONE WHEN I AWOKE I OPENED MY DAY WITH A SMILE THIS IS PURE XTC BRENT ROCKS A+++ SHOW AND SOUND!!!! this one goes to my own cd mix o'l campfire favorites!!!!thanks archive keep on keeping on

unreal shakedown, brent was kickin , as was everyone. bangin sound, git on board with this one!

This is a very nice soundboard (a couple of flaws, Good Lovin' cut)copy of the second set. Shakedown Street is one of the best "sounding" versions I've heard in awhile, Mydland is pouring on the funky keys for this one and everything is locked in place, Passenger simply smokes and during the jam Garcia kicks in the gatling gun.
Estimated Prophet features a perfectly executed and inspired middle jam, the closing jam predictably transitions into a Garcia buzy bee Eyes...Stella Blue must be heard as well...a tight U.S. Blues closes

Not sure why they stopped playing this in set II but what a superb addition this makes to this very hot show. I had this on a crappy Maxell and never took to it like this version. Cannot add much more the others have said it all, listen up.

um, hello breny mydland...as stated earlier, very unique and funky keys in this excellent shakedown. best passenger i've heard...very nice sound quality.
worth the d.l. for the opening alone...and the rest of the set is high energy and well played as well. do yourself the favor...

This 2nd set fucking smokes. The sound quality is very, very strong (wish we could get it for the 1st set as well). But the performance tops is big time. Shakedown is over 16 minutes, great way to get things moving. One of the best Passengers ever, no question. The Estimated > Eyes is good times. Great lead in before with playful stage banter (off mic) and teases. The jam into Drums confirms these guys were taking names in late '79. Burn it now.

Okay the best shakedown ever-Incredible passenger-Estimated-Eyes-I think they wanted to give every one a heart attack,this second set is none stop danceing,and the hottest set I can find to date.Raise the bar on this one,it beats all expectations.If you thought well I must get it cause of the set,you are correct-but set is not common,it rocks about as hard as the Dead ever will get-there ain't a mellow point to it!A 5 star if there ever was one.The show sounds ACE to boot.Dick missed this one big time,will be a future dicks picks cause there's nothing like it.

This show has great crisp sound and great jamming to boot!! This Passenger is probably the best and most powerful I 've heard to date!! Check it out!

This is a very interesting version of Shakedown. Crisp sound. Brent has got a razzed-up funky organ sound going, and is so prominent in the mix he seems to replace Weir in the weave for much of it. Near the 11:30 mark, Garcia lets go with a torrent of notes at extremely high speed. A few minutes later, he plays the few notes that tells the band it's time to turn back, but they don't bite. This becomes a brand new weave, with Weir prominent. Great stuff.
Passenger, wow. The overall sound feels a little muddier than on Shakedown. Garcia gets four runs on the slide first time thru. But it's his second run that is remarkable, nearly completely done at Terrapin Transit-style speed, as if he's running his licks through a particle accelerator. If you don't think you are hearing something special, listen to the sound/tone of Garcia's tiny coda after the tune ends. Clearly, a man who is digging his sound.
After FOTDevil, Weir announces that Kreutzman has "kicked thru the head of his bass drum, so we're gonna fix it."
Estimated features a unique expression of ecstasy by Garcia at the top of his in-verse solo around the 5 minute mark. Brent starts the jam with what is basically his own solo, nice to hear. At 9:20 it feels like there might be a microscopic splice, but thereafter Garcia is once again in fairly complete overdrive (during the last minute, he's a literal bumblebee).
A nice new phrase from Brent introduces Eyes, and away they go. Garcia is almost too fast here at the beginning....with the start of the first verse, you sense that they really are at a tempo that is unrealistic....But after a few minutes, Garcia slows some; the jam seems to gravitate toward a more middling tempo, with Weir laying out an interesting chord pattern on the left channel. At 9:30 the last verse ends, the tempo seems just right, Phil appears, and special sounds (11:55) ensue.....

This copy is from a 1st gen Cassette. I have recently put the cass master into circulation.
I will upload it soon...cm

Even though this is only the second set, its a show well worth having. An amazing Shakedown St. set opener, and an Eye's of the World that just explodes on impact. The boys were on fire this night!!!
Darkstr56